Now that Facebook has done an about-face on Beacon, its shopping application that let users broadcast purchases they made from site advertisers to anyone on their friends' lists, I really have to resist the urge to say "Coulda told ya!"

One of the takeaways for me at last week's Email Insider Summit was my perception that we are in the early stages of a tide shift when it comes to email marketing. The feeling that I got was that large company interest in email as a marketing tool was being diluted by a plethora of cool new toys like social networks, mobile marketing, and other shiny objects of interest. Many of the big individuals in the email space are being reassigned and reorganized, and many of the stalwarts of the industry may soon be spending their time thinking of other ...

Ah, the end of the year... time to ponder what lies ahead for the art and science of email marketing. Typically, the Email Diva provides answers, but this column is all about the big questions. As writer/astrologer Rob Brezsny advised in a recent column, "Certainty is a sham. What you desperately need are ripe, rounded, provocative questions."

While the concept of an online consumer preference center is a great idea, does it really add value to an email program or consumer experience? While I've seen some really great approaches to preference centers, consumer adoption and interaction is a product of the consumer brand involvement with the product and service (how frequently and how often), the perceived value in contributing to this enhanced profile (what's in it for me), and your ability as a marketer to continue to motivate your customer to contribute to this profile over time.

Email has become overused by many marketers and over-"stuffed," as I like to call it, with marketers trying to cram too much into a single email. Case in point: Pepsi has long been known for spot promotions through its email loyalty program. Today, it's become a coupon book scrolling three pages, without a cohesive method or navigation. Not to throw this program under the bus, but it's a classic example of programs that have more content than they have reasons to communicate.

While reviewing Gmail's guidelines for bulk email senders, I noticed a startling development: Best practices for email sending that my colleagues and I have advocated for years have now become requirements or "highly recommended" (hint, hint).

The agenda is finished, the final touches done. Next week at this time, I'll be sitting in beautiful Park City, Utah, forcing down 3.2 beer and basking in the camaraderie of the finest email marketing minds on the planet, at the 4th Email Insider Summit.